SCADfash Museum Premiers With Oscar de la Renta Exhibit

The Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) will debut SCADfash, a preeminent fashion museum in one of the country's largest metropolitan areas. Situated within the SCAD Atlanta campus at 1600 Peachtree St., the museum will host international fashion exhibitions, films and lectures for students and the public. Visitors will have the rare opportunity to engage with one-of-a-kind garments created by the world's leading fashion houses as well as ensembles from SCAD's permanent collection, featuring designs by Saint Laurent, Oscar de la Renta and Givenchy.

"SCADfash celebrates fashion as a universal language and garments as vehicles of identity," said SCAD President and Founder Paula Wallace. "This museum focuses on the past, present and future of fashion design, connecting conceptual to historical principles of dress, whether ceremonial, celebratory, or casual, and welcomes visitors of all ages to engage with cutting-edge exhibitions, educationally enriching events, films and forums, guided by curricula for K-12 students and resources for graduate scholars."

The new museum will add 10,000 square feet-a public gallery space, a fashion conservation lab, and a media library for educational film and digital presentations-to SCAD's existing 27,000 square feet of academic studio space dedicated to fashion and fashion marketing and management students. As one of the largest fashion museums in the United States, SCADfash will enhance and engage the visual design perspectives of students and the public.

Fashion luminary Diane von Furstenberg champions the new museum, saying, "SCAD is an amazing university because it encourages students to design their own careers and express their own visions. As a continuation of this mission, I am confident that SCADfash will inspire students, and all those who visit, to inspire others in turn. It's all about creating that cycle of empowerment."

The inaugural exhibition, Oscar de la Renta, celebrates the house of the late Oscar de la Renta; the Atlanta presentation will feature garments from the mid-1960s through the present, including gowns on loan from first lady Laura Bush and dresses worn by Taylor Swift and Oprah Winfrey, in addition to select garments by Oscar de la Renta's new creative director Peter Copping. The exhibition will also include the film "Ovation for Oscar," which premiered at the March� du Film at the Cannes Film Festival. This intimate look behind the scenes reveals the nuances and sophistication of the demanding, deadline-oriented work of fashion photographers, white-gloved art handlers and discerning curators as they research, assess, mount and produce a major museum exhibition honoring the late designer, artist and cultural icon.

The university opened the SCAD Museum of Art in 2011 in Savannah and attracts more than 40,000 visitors annually. The SCAD Museum of Art has won a 2013 Excellence in Preservation Award from the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation and a 2014 American Institute of Architects National Honor Award for Architecture. This year, SCAD's "Divine Comedy: Heaven, Purgatory and Hell Revisited By Contemporary African Artists" Curriculum Guide, one in a series of exhibition guides designed to help K-12 students achieve National Visual Arts Standards, won first place in the education category of the American Alliance of Museum's 2015 Museum Publications Design Competition. SCADfash will provide another venue for the university to showcase looks from its permanent collection that encompasses more than 1,000 garments. Fashion-focused tours, lectures, screenings and gallery talks will be available year-round.

"SCADfash is another example of SCAD's commitment to fashion for both students and professionals alike. The museum demonstrates how this forward-thinking university continues to execute on their vision to provide creative talent to this industry," said Domenico De Sole, one of the founding donors to the SCAD Museum of Art.

Future programming at SCADfash will include acclaimed exhibitions such as i feel ya: SCAD + Andr� Benjamin and Art x Fashion, an exploration of reciprocal influences between art and design. Programming is overseen by Laurie Ann Farrell, executive director of SCAD museums and exhibitions.